Rainwater are back with a brand new record, and the transformation has been ongoing in their absence. Again released with Furious Hooves, Saturn Returns sees Luley embrace a newly-collaborative style, welcoming Stephen Steen, James Kasinger and Amy and Drew Fitchette into the fold to cement Rainwater’s status as a full band. For the astrologically-minded, ‘Saturn return’ refers to the period when Saturn is restored to the position it occupied during one’s birth, supposedly ushering in a time of change and growth that can trigger a kind of self-actualisation, or even rebirth. Saturn Returns finds Rainwater in such a state, changing into a truer version of itself as Luley takes stock of his new home and relationships.

We’ve previously described the Rainwater sound as something of an amalgamation of dream rock, post-rock and folk (where “melancholy and hope ac[t] as counterbalances, light and dark swirling through one another in complex patterns”) and Saturn Returns leans further into the diverse sound. With the added heft of the band members, the arrangements are rich and heartfelt, permeated by a strange cousin of nostalgia that registers as a kind of fond melancholy for the present. “Now more than ever,” reads their bio, “Rainwater just sound like themselves.”

We’re pleased to share the lead single, ‘Pink Flowers’ in anticipation of the release. Rising out of a crepuscular quiet, the song slowly rises into something insistent and fierce, the dreamy meander of the opening half giving way to rises in tempo joined by impassioned vocals. The track comes with a suitably warm video, shot by Luley in Seattle and Bacalar, Mexico.

I don’t know who I am
I don’t understand
How you know
It’s truly you

Saturn Returns is out on the 7th June via Furious Hooves and you can pre-order it now. Rainwater are playing a few shows too, so check out the dates below and head along if you are in the area.

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“None, Too Many is a collection of songs composed over the last year informed by various personal and public events. Recorded over two days in Anacortes, Washington with help from friends, the hope was to capture a sense of place, time, and those involved.”

Ahead of the release of the album, we’re delighted to share the lead single, ‘Bill’. As described above, the track uses an American primitive skeleton upon which it builds its sound, though the various layers converge into something more classical and almost cinematic, bringing a freshness without sacrificing any of the organic spirit. In a way, the sound is much like the forests of the Pacific Northwest themselves, so old and familiar that they conjure a certain nostalgia even in outsiders, yet still possessing some persistent sense of mystery and intrigue, as though within their ancient midst might lie abounding newness.

The post Song Premiere: Drew Fitchette – ‘Bill’ appeared first on Various Small Flames.